A Escrava Isaura 9.85 · 9.85

The chapter's negotiation ends, and its instrument appears: 'apitou com força no cabo do seo chicote' — he blew hard on the whistle set in the handle of his whip. The detail is precise and terrible. The whip carries its own summons; the tool of punishment is also the bell that calls the servant who fetches more tools of punishment. In one object Guimarães shows how the machinery of the estate is built to extend cruelty smoothly — no raised voice needed, just a whistle on a whip-handle, and the shackles are on their way. André, the pageboy, will answer, and the scene tilts from words toward iron.

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